When you’re working remotely, it’s easy to get distracted by all the nagging tasks you have to do around the house. If you want to keep those chores from pulling your focus, it can help to indulge in them in short bursts so you put your mind at ease.

If your to-dos at home are keeping you from getting any real work done, Stephanie Taylor Christensen, freelance writer, yoga instructor, and mother, recommends the “three-minute rule” at Fast Company:

I allow three minutes to tend to anything I feel I need to respond to immediately that is not on my to-do list. Give yourself three minutes every hour of your official ‘work hours’ to scan and respond to important emails, put shoes that accumulate around the doorway in the closet, etc.—if it takes no more than three minutes.

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You’ll be able to focus on important work tasks more if you address the little things that are bugging you and clear them from your mental to-do list. And if you keep it short at three minutes, you’ll be able to dive back into your work without losing track of what you were doing. Plus, you’ll have to spend less time cleaning and doing busy work at the end of the workday.